Washington, DC — Today, Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and the House Natural Resources Committee introduced the American Public Lands & Water Climate Solutions Act, which would eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from US public lands and waters by 2040. The bill recognizes the critical need to invest in a just transition for workers and communities in the fossil fuel economy but unfortunately leaves the door open to continued fossil fuel production, including fracking and offshore oil and gas drilling.
In response, Greenpeace USA Senior Climate Campaigner John Noël said:
“We cannot solve the climate crisis and continue to extract fossil fuels at the same time. We need more from a bill seeking to protect America’s public lands and our shared climate for future generations, and we look forward to working with members of the committee to get there. Nearly all Democratic candidates for president have committed to ending fossil fuel extraction on public lands. Now it’s time for our Congresspeople to match their ambition to the scale of the crisis in front of us.
“We need leaders in Congress who will fight for workers and communities in the crosshairs of the climate crisis and who will confront the oil and gas executives pushing us toward climate emergency. Congress must halt all new oil and gas leases on public lands while investing in a just transition for the workers who are powering our economy today. The fossil fuel industry has poisoned communities to line the pockets of a handful of billionaires, but the clean energy revolution should leave no one behind.”
ENDS
Notes:
Fossil fuel extraction and production on public lands and waters account for 24 percent of US carbon dioxide emissions. Research by the Stockholm Environment Institute found that phasing out leasing on federal lands could avoid 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2030, an amount comparable to the Clean Power Plan and CAFE standards in terms of emissions reductions. Source: https://www.sei.org/wp-
Contact: Ryan Schleeter, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA: +1 (415) 342-2386, [email protected]
